Quote Originally Posted by davepoet
No, I literally did Nothing.

I did not install any new programs, new hardware... nada.

The new IE window will pop open but it will be an empty shell. Now if I hit stop, and then refresh, the page then comes up. But like for instance, Windows Update, I will go through the scan fine. I hit install, the little progress download/install box opens, and then it just stays there.

Havent touched the security settings at all. I even reset all settings just to be sure (using the reset to original settings features).

Scanned for viruses and spyware and machine is clean. Dual Firewall running.

Its very weird.

And of course, I cannot uninstall IE with Win XP. So I cannot install IE fresh because it says that there is already a newer version on my computer so it cannot continue setup.

ARGH!
Give this a try: it is a "repair" "upgrade" workaround for IE 6 on XP:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=318378